Looking for help/ideas/suggestions to raise the porch floor

[WoOt]

Hi All,

We’ve got a very awkward porch, with 4(!) doors in a 2 square meter space. At the moment, we don’t have the money to completely redo the UPVC side panel and door, which both have been fitted very badly. But we would like to fit a new floor. Unfortunately, there is a difference in the height of the floor between exterior door 1 and exterior door 2 aand the rest of the house. The idea would be to tile the toilet, first part of the porch and second part of the porch in the same tiles creating some continuity. I would hopefully also be removing external door #2 and its frame in order to tile straight through - although the wife is not crazy about that idea due to the fact that exterior door 1 is fitted badly and does not feel secure or windproof to her.

My challenge now is that I need to understand what the best method would be to raise the floor in the front porch area without:

• Damaging the UPVC currently in place
• Making it impossible to open any of the doors
• Blocking the air brick (if this is an issue at all?)
• Making it impossible/harder/more expensive to change the UPVC side panel and door in the future

Currently, all floors are wooden, apart from the front porch, which has a concrete floor, but is lower. Options I have considered this far:

• Blocking the air brick and pouring in concrete to bring it up
• Laying some bricks in mortar to raise it
• Trying to build a wooden subbase and anchoring it to the concrete below

 

[Gerrydelasel]

I would hopefully also be removing external door #2 and its frame, although the wife is not crazy about that idea due to the fact that exterior door 1 is fitted badly and does not feel secure or windproof to her.

I'm inclined to side with your wife. It looks like your exterior door 2 is the original front door of the property, and the PVC porch has been added or at least enclosed at a later time? Since I'm a bit paranoid about burglary, I would prefer to keep external door 2 -the proper door. External door 1 is just a bonus; an extra barrier to theives and a weather barrier to the front door proper (which is the original purpose of porches!).

I might instead remove the door between the 'hall' and the living room (maybe make it into a decorative arch instead), and have the living room carpet or whatever continue into the 'hall'.

This would keep the porch as a self-contained, separate area, so it could be improved/decorated at leisure in a way that complements the materials and doesn't have to match the rest of the house (easier!).

 

[WoOt]

It looks like your exterior door 2 is the original front foor the property, and the PVC prorch has been added or at least enclosed at a later time?

You are correct. Door 2 is the original exterior door. Door 1 will be replaced at some point though, with a proper fitting and more secure door. Just not as much of a priority at the moment.

....a weather barrier to the front door proper (which is the original purpose of porches!).

Door 1 and door 2 are so close to each other that it is impossible to close door 1 behind you before opening door 2 and stepping through it - and that is when you are alone and not carrying anything. The 2 doors are a right pain at the moment

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Door 1 will be replaced at some point though, with a proper fitting and more secure door.

But no matter how good you make that door, it's fitted into what is basically a plastic box. A theif can kick through a PVC panel in no time... Door 2 is fitted into brick. Good old dependable brick.

Door 1 and door 2 are so close to each other that it is impossible to close door 1 behind you before opening door 2 and stepping through it - and that is when you are alone and not carrying anything. The 2 doors are a right pain at the moment

In that case I would get rid of Door 1 and revert back to the way the house was originally designed! Trash the PVC and turn the porch into a simpler, open-style porch that is only meant to keep the rain off you and the front door. This would cost less than replacing door 1... And let's face it, PVC 'add-on' porches are a universal eyesore, so you'd be doing your community a favour!

 

[WoOt]

I am fairly decent at bricklaying and could probably replace that UPVC side wall with a brick one in a weekend. It would probably be cheaper than UPVC and might look better too. Plus it would address the safety concerns you and the wife share. Not sure if it is allowed though. I guess it falls under permitted development, but would need to check.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Fair enough.
But from your pictures it looks like door 1 is too close to the porch floor, so if you try to raise the floor to match the hall, the door won't open? i.e. you're screwed unless you replace door 1 now?

Ignoring that, I would probably make a little box around the air brick, then pour concrete on the rest of the porch floor. Then put a decorative grating over the box, so air can still get to the air brick.

 

[WoOt]

Sounds like my best bet is to:

1. Remove the UPVC door and side panel first
   
2. Add a short wall where the side panel was
   
3. Raise the floor
4. Add a new door
   
5. Remove door #2

Sounds like a bigger/more expensive job than I had hoped it would be.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Don't let me put you off -it's not my house. But I do think security is worth more than a tiled floor, and I would not be comfortable with only a PVC porch separating me from the zombie hordes..

 

[geraldthehamster]

I would simply remove the uPVC porch altogether, which will probably increase the value of your house. I wouldn't remove the door between the hall area and the sitting room, because then the loo door opens straight into the sitting room and you'll get sounds and smells. I might consider re-hanging the loo door from the other side, for ease of access.

Cheers
Richard